Silent Period (A Paranormal Romance)

16; _

"I can't believe Lalo's saying all of this."

I can.

"He can't make up his damn mind!"

"This is him doing so," I finally reply to my mother's ramblings.

"Whyyy? This just makes everything more complicated than it needs to be! Why would he say THAT of all things?" she keeps whining with a frown, "And I didn't even get to find out for myself that he's telepathic... He had to be all boring and tell her directly."

It kind of surprises me that she's so astounded by this development. We even discussed the likelihood of this occurring. However, this approach he's taking is stupidity incarnate. Mom has long made her terms clear, and he's breaking them when he knows we can see everything. 

Not to mention, people don't value honesty. They just think it sounds pretty to say that.

There Lalo is, though. Giving out 'honesty' like it doesn't come with consequences.

A bone cracks.

"Sweetheart, how are you feeling?" she tries to comfort my brother. He can barely talk now.

"Are you sure Dmitri's up for anything? Even being outside?" I question. "He's been deteriorating faster."

By his eyes, he's not here right now. He's stuck in that trance.

"He doesn't have a choice. I need to make sure he's stable."

As expected.

"Might want to keep him on a leash," I say.

Oh, his reaction. Looks like he heard that.

"I don't know why you're so upset. It's natural to put a leash on your dog, especially when it's being messy."

"That's ironic coming from you, bitch." 

My brother glares at me.

"I have an idea," I offer. "Why don't we use his current state to make something happen here? I doubt he'd be capable of controlling himself. He already snapped in front of them once."

He didn't like that, either. She has to use the gun again. Poor Dmitri.

Mom seems to like my suggestion, though.

"We can work out a plan that'll take care of several predicaments we have," she has that expression on. Like she can rule the world.

I add, "Besides, Lalo doesn't let her be around the headless long enough to get anywhere. It's about time we-"

The air ignites with metal and color.

My mother has to damage control again.

I know Dmitri gets bothered when I use the word 'headless', but this is excessive. Everything I say is setting him off today. He's being so manic. Unfortunately for him, we can make use out of this.

Lalo's becoming more of a problem. His abilities are integral to our organization, but that doesn't mean he gets a pass to act however he chooses.

I won't complain about it. In fact, it makes things interesting. 

Torture is such a finicky thing, depending on the use. It needs enough fear to get results, but not so much that the victim will do anything to avoid punishment. It needs enough pain to get results, but not so much that the victim will break under the pressure. If Nova's life is worth more to him than his own, she'll be a better victim in this case.

Knowing my mother, I'll probably be stuck with some sort of babysitting or diversion duty. Pity, but I also won't complain about that.

It's about time we take the direct approach. 

| First Edit 6/9/18 |